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Editors' note, March 20, 2013:Seagate informed us that it will release a firmware update in a matter of weeks to resolve performance-related issues mentioned in this review. The server will be re-evaluated once the firmware is available.

Seagate's four-bay Business Storage 4-Bay NAS server is the replacement for the company's previous BlackArmor NAS 440. Despite the name, it's a simple network storage device that both consumers and business users can benefit from. In fact it has fewer business-related features than other advanced yet consumer-friendly servers I've reviewed, such as the Synology DS412+ or the QNAP TS-469 Pro, and it's also slower.

The new server from Seagate comes in a much lower price range, however, starting at just $400 (compared with $650 or more for the other two). On top of that it includes a powerful backup application, and has a Universal Storage Module (USM) slot that can be used with Seagate Backup Plus portable drives to offer a quick offsite backup system.

If you're looking for a workhorse network-based storage server to use primarily for local backups and data sharing, the Seagate Business Storage NAS is a cost-effective choice. Those wanting to get more out of a NAS server should pay more for one of these alternatives.

Design
The Seagate Business Storage 4-Bay NAS has a design typical of the average four-bay NAS server and somewhat resembles its predecessor, the BlackArmor 440. On the front, a big door opens up to four front-facing drive bays. Each of these bays has a tray that can be easily pulled out in case you need to install or replace the hard drives, and no tool is need for the job.

The server can host four standard SATA hard drives of any capacity, so with hard drives being as large as 4TB each, the new server can offer up to 16TB of raw storage space. The server itself is available from 0TB (diskless) up to 16TB, with the cost ranging from $400 to $1,500. It's the most affordable four-bay NAS server on the market right now.

The Business Storage 4-Bay NAS' Web interface is well-organized but rather slow and simple.
Dong Ngo/CNET

The server supports most standard RAID setups available for four-drive systems: RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 10, and JBOD. (For more on RAIDs, check out this post). Since these are all standard RAIDs, make sure you pick an initial storage space that's large enough for long-term usage. This is because it's not possible to scale up the server's capacity by switching to larger-capacity hard drives without rebuilding the RAID from scratch. Other NAS servers, such as those from Synology or Netgear, offer a way to dynamically increase the server's storage space without even turning the server off. They also let you use hard drives of different capacities.

Also on the front, the server has a tiny two-line-resolution LED screen and two navigation buttons. The screen shows the server's status, such as its IP address, Disk health, and so on, and you can use the buttons to scroll between different pages of the screen. Each page contains two lines of information. You can press and hold a button for the screen to display details of the item. For example, pressing and holding "NetworkStatus" will display the server's current IP address, and pressing and holding "Backup" will start a quick backup job.

The Seagate Business Storage can perform quick backup job via its Universal Storage Module (USM) slot, which is located on top of the tiny LED screen. Seagate's USM slot, introduced at CES 2011, allows Seagate's portable drives to work as removable storage media, the way Zip disks worked with a Zip drive, but at the speed of SATA 3 (6Gbps), which is as fast as the speed of two internal hard drives when used inside a computer. When a Backup Plus portable drive is inserted into the USM slot, its contents will be shared with the entire network (with restriction options), or you can make backups of certain folders from the server's internal storage on it. You can select which folders to back up on the portable drive via the server's Web interface.

The server has two USB 3.0 ports, one on the front and one on the back. These ports can be used to host more storage or printers. You can also use the front USB port with another external storage device for the Quick Backup feature.

As a network storage device, the Business Storage 4-Bay NAS has two Gigabit Ethernet ports on the back. Only one of the ports is needed but the two can be used together for either load-balancing or fail-safe purposes. Unfortunately, they can't be used together to increase the server's data rate, a feature available in some other high-end NAS servers.

I reviewed a 16TB version of the Business Storage 4-Bay NAS, and it came with a CD that contains the Seagate NAS Discovery and Seagate NAS Backup applications. The former helps identify the server on the network (by revealing its IP address) and launches the Web interface. You can also do this by pointing a browser to the server's IP address. The latter is rebranded powerful backup software called Seagate BlackArmor Backup 2011, which is based on Acronis True Image 2011. This lets you back up an entire Windows computer and restore it to another computer or to another hard drive. For Macs, Seagate Business Storage servers support Time Machine natively.

In all, it was quite easy to get the Business Storage 4-Bay NAS up and running. Those who need more help can consult the included Quick Start guide.

CNET editor Dong Ngo has been involved with technology since 2000, starting with testing gadgets and writing code for CNET Labs' benchmarks. He now manages CNET San Francisco Labs, reviews 3D printers, networking/storage devices, and also writes about other topics from online security to new gadgets and how technology impacts the life of people around the world.
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